An animal rights group has claimed that the police are dragging their feet in probing an individual allegedly involved in an “animal torture porn” case.
In a statement today, two lawyers acting for Hak Asasi Hidupan Liar Malaysia (Hidup) claimed that the authorities have yet to act on the NGO’s report lodged last month.
The legal practitioners - Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh who are also part of another NGO called Lawyers for Animal Rights (LAR) - claimed that the police report lodged on Jan 20 provided detailed information on an individual who is purportedly responsible for extreme acts of cruelty inflicted on baby monkeys.
“Despite having more than three weeks and being provided detailed information, the police have failed and/or neglected to arrest and charge the said individual.
“LAR demands that the police act immediately to investigate and charge the individual responsible for this torture under the Animal Welfare Act 2015 on an urgent basis,” the two lawyers said.
Malaysiakini is attempting to reach out to the Shah Alam District police headquarters over the animal rights activists’ allegation.
On Jan 20, at a press briefing after lodging the report, Hidup member Dr Kartini Farah Abdul Rahim urged police to take action against individuals who allegedly tortured a baby long-tail macaque to generate followers and income on social media.
The animal rights advocate said she lodged the police report after receiving a tip-off from an international animal rights group.
Based on the information she received, Kartini claimed that the perpetrators had recorded footage of them torturing the animal and sold the recording on a Telegram group called 'Monkey Haters'.
‘This is extremely cruel’
"I received information of cruelty against baby monkeys, whereby several Malaysians had shared videos of themselves hitting, slashing, burning and scalding the animal with hot water, for their own pleasure and to receive money from followers.
"This is extremely cruel and should be investigated by police immediately," she told reporters.
Rajesh, who accompanied Kartini that day, told the media that the animals were hit with blunt objects or tortured to the extent that they were shrieking in pain.
"In the process, the perpetrators took photos and videos and published them on Telegram, like trailers.
"If anyone in the Telegram group wants to view the full video, they have to pay a certain sum to the perpetrators.
"This is what is called torture pornography," Rajesh said, adding that the video was sold around the world through the social media application.
The perpetrators need to be apprehended and charged under the Animal Welfare Act 2015 and the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010, he added.
Under the Animal Welfare Act 2015, those found guilty of animal cruelty can be fined between RM20,000 and RM100,000 or jailed for up to three years, or both.
Endangered species
The long-tailed macaque is listed as a wildlife species protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act.
Torturing wildlife protected under this Act is punishable with a fine of not less than RM5,000 and not more than RM50,000, or imprisonment of up to one year, or both.
Despite their seeming abundance in Malaysia, long-tailed macaques are an endangered species worldwide and their numbers are decreasing, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The population of long-tailed macaques is suspected to have undergone a decline of about 40 percent in the last 40 years, and is expected to decline a further 50 percent in the next 40 years, the IUCN said. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.